Police: Detroiter kills teen home intrusion suspect

[ejames01]

A resident of Detroit's east side shot and killed a suspected intruder early this morning as the 19-year-old climbed in the window of his home, Detroit Police said.


The teen suspect ran from the home in the 11300 block of Whitehill after being shot in the head and chest with the resident's handgun, police said. He collapsed in front of his own house and died at about 3:30 a.m., according to police.


At 7 a.m., Detroit Police homicide detectives were still questioning the 39-year-old resident of the home, which lies northeast of Hayes and East Outer Drive.

http://www.freep.com/article/2009050...rusion+suspect

Thank God guns are LEGAL!

[GREENTROIT]

Ugghh I can see this thread turning ugly. I think I'll watch from the sidelines.

[7051]

Good.

-A fellow Detroiter

[exdetroiter]

Thank the stars above the homeowner had a gun. There is no telling what would have happen if the owner had been caught off guard. I rather get them then they get me, while relaxing inside my home.

[Bobl]

This is sad, and ugly.
If the incident happened as described in the news article, I agree with the neighbor who is "glad......not good that he is dead......but it sends a message."
Do not overlook the evidence that this was a neighbor preying on a neighbor.

In years past, neighbors looked out for each other. The perception was that burglaries came from those who lived elsewhere.
Today, the next door neighbor is often a stranger and possibly someone to be feared. A friend in the same neighborhood as this tragedy experienced this when he came home from work and found that his garbage can had been moved below his bedroom window, which showed pry marks at the bottom. Footsteps in the snow led directly to the side door next door, where a single father lived with a teen aged son. When my friend told him what happened, the man joked that my friend's home was sparcely furnished and not worth breaking into!

[exdetroiter]

I posted a thread similar to this about crime in Detroit. My house was burgarlized on January 20, 2009 while I was at work during the day. The were skilled at prior open my security door as well as my house door without breaking the lock. The police saw the foot tracks in the snow from my back yard/door to the neighbors side door. The teenagers are rarely supervised due to their mom being at work all day and well into the night. The same teenager broken into a neighbors house across the street from mine last summer, when the neighbor comforted the mother, she said call the police and have him arrested because he is 18 and there is nothing she can do about it.

[Maxine1958]

A similar situation was the final straw that forced my mom to leave the city back in the '80's.

Not only did the kids next door take a set of tires, an electric mower and some other power tools from the garage, they actually used the mower on their own lawn.

My mom was afraid to report it or say anything since there were four unsupervised teenaged boys living in the house and she was one senior citizen. And we lived one block from the police station.

<sigh>

[rjlj]

Times these stories by 1 million and you end up with what you have today.

[SWMAP]

My neighbor's teen-aged son is a Latin Count [[but way low in the hierarchy). His name is everywhere, like frantic. Up and down Vernor Highway - very destructive.True, his father died two years ago and he may be acting out his sadness. But another neighbor called his Mother over and showed her the tag on his garage. She said it was her son's, and when asked what she was going to do about it, she said that she was going to tell him to paint somewhere else. And she is a licensed social worker!

The kids are running the city now. The good kids, you know. At least according to their mothers and grandmothers. The elders are really trying to cater to them, buy them the things that will make them happy. Spend thousands on their proms and graduations so they can "enter society."

[E hemingway]

If more people stepped up to take active, positive roles in the lives of these kids, there would be a lot less petty crime.

[gumby]

In years past, neighbors looked out for each other. The perception was that burglaries came from those who lived elsewhere.
Today, the next door neighbor is often a stranger and possibly someone to be feared.

This is a sad but true reality in today's society. That is why I am glad I live in the neighborhood I do here in Flint. Everyone looks out for each other and no suprise it is one of the best neighborhoods in Flint. My neighbor to the west of me is a good friend now and the neighbors to the east are my grandparents [[so that really helps out) But I've met all my neighbors and I believe that is why I have had absolutely no problems since I moved in 2 years ago.

[Maxine1958]

If more people stepped up to take active, positive roles in the lives of these kids, there would be a lot less petty crime.

At the risk of getting my head chopped off, how do you propose we do that?

If their own parents have given up on them, won't take responsibility for their actions, how should I, a single woman, take an active, positive role in their lives?

Sorry, I'm just really tired of society taking the blame for poor parenting.

[E hemingway]

"how do you propose we do that?"

www.bbbsa.org
www.bsadetroit.org
www.gsofmd.org
www.mentorcollaboration.org
www.studentmentorpartners.org

Yeah, you're right. There's no infrastructure set up for responsible people to step in and make a difference. What's the use anyways? If the fine, upstanding citizens/deadbeat parents that abandoned these kids have given up on them then we should just treat these kids like the garbage they are and throw them away.

[ejames01]

The kids that are involved in those organizations are not the problem. It is those other monsters that need to be dealt with. Those animals don't care about themselves or anyone else for that matter.

"how do you propose we do that?"

www.bbbsa.org
www.bsadetroit.org
www.gsofmd.org
www.mentorcollaboration.org
www.studentmentorpartners.org

Yeah, you're right. There's no infrastructure set up for responsible people to step in and make a difference. What's the use anyways? If the fine, upstanding citizens/deadbeat parents that abandoned these kids have given up on them then we should just treat these kids like the garbage they are and throw them away.

[eriedearie]

Who gets to shoulder the blame when an adult commits a break-in or robbery? Who is it that we blame then? Do we blame the spouse? The parents of the robber? Is it the fault of society at large. Is it society's fault because we didn't have enough activities for that adult to do? And that's why he committed the robbery?

People need to learn to keep their hands off other people's property. Plain and simple. This 19-year-old knew he was attempting to do something that was wrong...he ran when he was discovered by the homeowner.

There's been robbers and outlaws since time began. You'd think they would have learned by now. But no - here another young man's life is snuffed out, and the guy defending his home will have to live out the rest of his life with the knowledge of what he did.

This is a no-win situation. I pray I'm never faced with anything like this. However, if I am, I will defend my home.

[E hemingway]

"The kids that are involved in those organizations are not the problem."

Exactly. The big problem isn't that single parents or grandparents raising grandkids aren't signing their kids up for these sorts of programs. The waiting lists for mentors are huge. Thousands of young kids are on waiting lists for mentors, but there aren't enough volunteers to go around. More responsible adults complaining about crime need to step up and volunteer to do something like mentoring.

[Linda from Detroit]

This is such a sad story from many points of view. I know that neighborhood from the 70's when we lived a little ways from there. First, I am glad that man had a gun and was able to defend himself. If it was me I would have done the same thing. There is no reason to not think someone forcing their way into your home needs an offer of milk and cookies and a nice long chat before you can do anything about it.
I put the blame on the parents of these kids. The generation that is in their teens/early 20's are a disaster. I have two stepkids that still live on the Westside of Detroit and they are horrible. When the came with us we did everything we could to try to show them proper manners, decent values and courtesy. Unfortunately the enviornment they were in was not conducive to decent behavior and consideration for others. The girl even bragged of all the relatives she stole from. Sad, isn't it? The last straw was when these two children told their father that they hope he died quicky and not to ever expect them to do anything for him. And, these kids even went to a private, Christian/Catholic school! If that is what religious schools [[and church members) are turning into the world, just imagine what some of the other kids are like! Very frightening, in my opinion.

[urbanpioneer]

I used to be totally anti-handgun. Until someone tried to rob my wife an me at gun point last Friday night while walking our dogs _ one is a mastiff _ by Boston-Edision. First time he pulled up and said "give me your fucking money." We were stunned and said we had no money and he left. Then he circled around, showed us the gun again and repeated his demand. We said we had no money, I told my wife to run and we ran down the alley. We called 911 and cops never came. We snuck back to our house in the alleys worried he would return. My first instinct was to just get a concealed weapon permit, take the class and go to range every other week. Next time someone tries to hold me up at gun point_ this is the third time in 10 years _ I'll be trained, with a working revolver and ready to protect my wife. Same as if they were coming in my window. Then on second instinct, I realize I don't want to be that type of person and would rather leave Detroit. We went house hunting this weekend. Did you know you can can get gorgeous houses in Grosse Point Park for less than $200,000?

[Detroitej72]

Good for the homeowner. I think he should be given a medal for bravery and saving tax payers the cost of a trial and jail.

I'm sure that this piece of shit's family will lead the protests, and carp on how he was such a good boy, maybe even was mentally challenged, and how the homeowner should be jailed. They may even sue the city for a huge payout.
I will not shed any tears for one less criminal in the city tonight.

[softailrider]

I used to be totally anti-handgun. Until someone tried to rob my wife an me at gun point last Friday night while walking our dogs _ one is a mastiff _ by Boston-Edision. First time he pulled up and said "give me your fucking money." We were stunned and said we had no money and he left. Then he circled around, showed us the gun again and repeated his demand. We said we had no money, I told my wife to run and we ran down the alley. We called 911 and cops never came. We snuck back to our house in the alleys worried he would return. My first instinct was to just get a concealed weapon permit, take the class and go to range every other week. Next time someone tries to hold me up at gun point_ this is the third time in 10 years _ I'll be trained, with a working revolver and ready to protect my wife. Same as if they were coming in my window. Then on second instinct, I realize I don't want to be that type of person and would rather leave Detroit. We went house hunting this weekend. Did you know you can can get gorgeous houses in Grosse Point Park for less than $200,000?

Go with your first instinct regardless of where you live, you can't protect your family unarmed.

[E hemingway]

Buddying up for education: Metro students in dire need of mentors


DETROIT -- Jibreel Tatum loves school, but his math and penmanship could use some help.

So Jibreel, 9, who attends Bagley Elementary School in Detroit, joined a weekly "lunch buddies" mentoring program through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit. He was matched up with Alex Jones, 17, a junior at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy.

"I got involved for help with my homework," said Jibreel, working with Jones on a homework assignment in a classroom at Bagley, surrounded by 18 other pairs of Bagley students matched with U-D Jesuit male high school mentors. His progress in math makes Jibreel smile.

"It's getting better," he said.

But Jibreel is one of the fortunate ones. According to groups like Big Brothers Big Sisters and Mentor Michigan, thousands of other students in Metro Detroit could use a mentor. A 2005 Big Brothers Big Sisters study of 702 school-based matches showed 66 percent of the students improved their academic performance, 67 percent had a better attitude toward school, 77 percent improved their self-confidence and 55 percent improved their ability to make decisions.

A mentor is a person who shares experience, knowledge and wisdom about a particular occupation, homework assignments or courses of action and behavior. But there aren't enough mentors to go around.

"Families are working harder and working longer hours because of the economy, sometimes working two jobs," said Teri John, principal of Schoenhals Elementary School in Southfield, which needs more mentors. "Parents are trying to pay the rent and buy food, and it's harder to say, 'I need to stop and play a game with James.' A lot of students do get one-on-one time at home, but some just need more than others."

Statistics from Mentor Michigan, an organization started by Gov. Jennifer Granholm and first gentleman Dan Mulhern, indicate that there are 4,081 young people currently on a waiting list for mentors in the state, and nearly 1,400 waiting in southeast Michigan.

"The real number is probably more than double that," said Mary Grill, director of communications for the Michigan Community Service Commission. "Some schools don't even keep waiting lists any more because they say the names would stay on a list too long and the kids would become discouraged."

Erin Smith, site-based specialist for Big Brothers Big Sisters at Schoenhals Elementary School, knows all about that disappointment.

"I have students who always want to be part of the lunch buddies program," she said. A lunch buddy is a mentor who spends an hour a week with a child. "They'll ask to participate in the programs but it's unfortunate that we don't have enough mentors to go around."

Smith said the school originally developed a lunch buddy partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield three years ago, but a company restructuring ended the program. Some employees continued to mentor independently, but the number dropped from 23 to nine.

There also is a greater need for mentors for lower-level grades. In Warren Consolidated Schools, Mentoring Solutions, a nonprofit, works with high school students there, but there is no mentoring program for elementary and junior high students.

Big Brothers Big Sisters has 14 school-based matches with mentors in Detroit, Southfield, Dearborn and Lathrup Village. Some of the corporate partners include Compuware, Comcast, DTE, Southfield Lathrup High School and Ford Motor Co. headquarters in Dearborn.

Most mentors are women -- about 65 percent, according to Mentor Michigan. But Christopher Love, an 11th-grader at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy, is one of the males who exemplify what mentoring organizations are seeking: a role model.

He wants to become a doctor, and although he's only 16, he usually wears a tie, speaks softly but assertively and treats his "little brother" Dennis Shamborguer, 9, a fourth-grader at Bagley Elementary School, more like a son.

"I'm trying to teach him how to be good in school, to be nice to his teachers and friends, and to respect his elders," said Love.

Barbara Kellam of West Bloomfield serves as a mentor for Jeremiah Jackson, a 12-year-old student at Sherrard Elementary School in Detroit.

"We talk about all kinds of things, including family and school," she said. "I can see the improvement. He always shows me his report card and I see how he's applying himself. And he's opening up a lot more."

You can reach Shawn D. Lewis at [[248) 647-8825 or slewis@detnews.com.

http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs...OOLS/703150382

[unclefrank]

I love a story with a happy ending! One less scumbag walking the earth.

[exdetroiter]

The homeowner had no choice, but to protect himself. What was the dummy thinking, breaking into a home and not sure rather someone is there or not, he must has been on drugs. Good For the Homeowner.

[Maxine1958]

I was raised in Detroit by a single mother from the age of 8.

My mother ran a business and still made it a priority to know where I was and who I was with every minute of the day.

All those organizations are wonderful, but they cannot ever replace discipline learned at home!

As much as I love the city of Detroit, I won't ever live in it again. I work here, I patronize many busniesses here, but I won't feel safe living here.

[LodgeDodger]

Generally speaking, it's not in my nature to wish anyone harm. But, after reading about this shooting, my first thought was that it was about time.

May God forgive me.